Johannesburg - An off-duty police officer was at the right place at the right time on Tuesday as he managed to stop two thieves in their tracks.
Although of one two men tried to run away, the SA Police Service (SAPS) officer from the Edenvale police station managed to apprehend both of them who had followed a woman home from a shopping mall and tried rob her of her possessions, including a Rolex watch.
Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said that on Tuesday afternoon the woman was returning from Eastgate shopping centre to her Bedfordview home when she was followed by the men.
The pair then took the woman’s handbag, cellphone, house keys and the watch.
But as they were about to flee the scene, the woman’s husband retaliated.
“As the suspects were trying to drive away from the scene, the victim's husband fired shots at them and their vehicle, a BMW, crashed into a gate,” said Dlamini.
“The suspects abandoned the vehicle and ran on foot.”
The off-duty officer then stopped robbers and arrested one of them who sustained an injury to his left arm after being hit by the bullet that was fired by the woman’s husband.
“The second suspect was arrested few blocks away from the crime scene. All the stolen items were recovered,” said Dlamini.
Meanwhile, another shoot-out ensued in another Ekurhuleni suburb on Tuesday.
This time, a man held up a security guard and hijacked a Nissan bakkie at the corner of Daws and Florence streets.
Dlamini said the vehicle was later found abandoned in nearby Primrose and but the guard did not sustain any injuries.
In another unrelated incident, an attempted cash-in-transit robbery at the Soshanguve Plaza, north of Pretoria, on Tuesday resulted in a shootout, leaving a suspect and security guard dead.
Dlamini explained that two G4S guards were at the shopping complex to collect cash from a store when they were confronted by two robbers.
One of them then fired a shot and a guard then returned fire.
“During the shoot-out, both died at the scene. No cash was taken.”
Dlamini said although a 9mm pistol was recovered at the scene, police launched a manhunt for one of the suspect who managed to escape.
The Star